Obituary
Annette (Shiffman) Alson, 93, of Chicago, IL, died June 20, 2025 with her husband Eli, and daughters, Beth and Amy, at her side.
Annette was born in Manhattan, NY, on October 3, 1931, to Morris and Florence (Chrobersky) Shiffman. Raised in the Allerton Ave “Coops”, she maintained ties to childhood friends “the Victorettes” into their 90s. Annette earned a Fine Arts degree at The Cooper Union and a master’s degree in early childhood education at the City College of NY.
Annette married Eli in 1956 and they lived in the Finger Lakes district of NY before raising 2 daughters in Denville, NJ. Creating a beautiful home and garden were important to Annette, and so was contributing to her community: Annette founded the local League of Women Voters, started a child care center at the County College of Morris, and was active on Denville’s public library board. She built lasting friendships with colleagues and neighbors, many of whom, like Annette, were talented artists.
As empty-nesters, Annette and Eli relished summers in Maine and traveled widely. Later, they moved to Chicago to be near their granddaughter, Maya. In Chicago, Annette again befriended neighbors of all ages and their dogs. And she and Eli adopted Lulu, a sweet, special Silky Terrier.
Annette was preceded in death by her parents, many relatives, friends, and pets. She is survived by Eli, Beth, Amy, Maya, Richard Plotnick, and Z. John Licsko.
A celebration of Annette’s life will be held July 13, 2025,10-11am Central Time online at https://us04web.zoom.us/j/75178316693?pwd=B1zT31sV7W7sZLWcXhRtL029lNIcfy.1
(Meeting ID: 751 7831 6693 Passcode: 836822)
Donations in Annette’s memory may be made to an organization reflecting the people, causes and values she cared about, such as the Yiddish Book Center of Amherst, MA (www.yiddishbookcenter.org), PAWS Chicago (https://www.pawschicago.org), the ACLU (https://www.aclu.org), or The Cooper Union (https://cooper.edu).
Arrangements by Goldman Funeral Group.
www.goldmanfuneralgroup.com